Preparations for travelling abroad have been going quite well.
This Sunday, I met with Sarah K., a cheerful young lady from Appleton who joined our Russian class for spring term. She has been to Russia a few times and offered to share her accumulated wisdom with me. Since she was in the area this weekend, we made plans to meet up at the local independently-owned coffee shop.
Our visit was fruitful, let me tell you. Not only did she have excellent tips to share, like movies are cheaper in the morning than at night, not only did she give me her copy of the Lonely Planet's Guide to St. Petersburg (the best!) complete with notes, she is also mailing me the cellphone she used while she was there. How great is that?!
I'd been thinking that it would be a good idea to purchase a мобильный телефон once I got to St. Petersburg, чтобы make international phone calls and call someone for directions if I ever should get lost. Did I say 'if'? I meant 'when.' I hadn't completely resolved to get one, but now a free one is on its way to my doorstep.
Russian vocab of the day:
успех: that which has been dotting the past few weeks.
долг благодароности: what I owe Sarah.
Monday, June 25, 2007
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Extended Stay
I checked my email yesterday and was surprised at the mass of unread messages waiting for me. Here at home, email to my Lawrence account has dwindled to about one a day. I sorted through the ones informing me about the new voicemail options at Lawrence and the ones about finances to get to the most the Easter egg, titled "Change in Program End Date."
Now, the original date of the group flight back to the States was Dec. 30. This was frustrating to me because it meant I would just barely miss the New Year, which is a big deal in Russia. But here was the assistant director telling me that we would be staying for exam week, rather than leaving early, как обычно. The new return date is Jan. 12, which means I'll be in St. Petersburg for New Year's and Christmas!! I am really excited and I've been telling anyone who will listen. The secondary great thing is that the later return date justifies my taking off a term even more. Winter Term starts Jan. 6, and while I could arrange to return early, I've pre-saved myself the hassle of doing so.
The excitement has carried me through to the creation of this blog. I've told enough people that I'm going to keep a blog while I'm in St. Petersburg that I surely had better. So here we are.
Russian vocab of the day:
С новом годом! и С рождеством Христов!: two holiday greetings I will be using in St. Petersburg.
С днем благодарения! и С Хэллоуином!: two holiday greetings I doubt I will be using in St. Petersburg, unless we American students get together and roast our own turkey or knock on each others' doors for candy.
Now, the original date of the group flight back to the States was Dec. 30. This was frustrating to me because it meant I would just barely miss the New Year, which is a big deal in Russia. But here was the assistant director telling me that we would be staying for exam week, rather than leaving early, как обычно. The new return date is Jan. 12, which means I'll be in St. Petersburg for New Year's and Christmas!! I am really excited and I've been telling anyone who will listen. The secondary great thing is that the later return date justifies my taking off a term even more. Winter Term starts Jan. 6, and while I could arrange to return early, I've pre-saved myself the hassle of doing so.
The excitement has carried me through to the creation of this blog. I've told enough people that I'm going to keep a blog while I'm in St. Petersburg that I surely had better. So here we are.
Russian vocab of the day:
С новом годом! и С рождеством Христов!: two holiday greetings I will be using in St. Petersburg.
С днем благодарения! и С Хэллоуином!: two holiday greetings I doubt I will be using in St. Petersburg, unless we American students get together and roast our own turkey or knock on each others' doors for candy.
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